Norwich police investigate cemetery theft

David Oat, historian for the historic Yantic Cemetery in Norwich, left, and Dale Plummer, city historian, show the spot Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 where a bronze statue was stolen from the grave of Sarah Larned Osgood in the cemetery

Norwich – City police are investigating the theft of a landmark bronze statue at the Sarah Osgood grave in the historic Yantic Cemetery on Lafayette Street.

The statue of a life-size woman wearing a draping dress and veil is kneeling on Osgood's flat gravestone and appears to be looking at the inscription on her stone. "Asleep in Jesus Blessed Sleep," the inscription reads.

The statue was hollow, and bolts attaching it to the stone were broken. A pile of dirt and debris that had collected for the past century beneath the statue now sit on the stone in its place.

David Oat, local gravestone historian, said he received a call Monday from a frequent cemetery walker that the stone was missing. City police said it was reported missing on Friday. Norwich Police Detective Michael McVicker said he could not comment on details of the case, except to say that it is an open investigation.

Oat said another cemetery visitor told him the statue was there about two weeks earlier.

The statue was a prominent feature in a large circular plot containing Osgood family graves. A tall Egyptian style obelisk stands at the center of the circle. Sarah Larned Osgood was the wife of Charles Osgood. She died Sept. 4, 1881. Her husband, who died March 18, 1881, is buried next to her stone.

Anyone with information about the statue should contact Norwich police at 860-886-5561.

The bronze statue adorning the grave of Sarah Larned Osgood in the Yantic cemetery in Norwich, in a photo provided by local gravestone historian David Oat.